Catalyst

Rating:
Summary: Catalyst
Review: I really love this author, so I decided to read her latest book. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Like it says on the inside flap, this book will change the way you look at the world. I like the way Laurie Halse Anderson deals with harder issues in her books, and I found I could relate to the main character. Athlete, straight A student, night owl, does work around the house, not really a fan of religion, and likies to put herself on auto pilot and tune out the world. The main character, Kate Malone, is a Senior in high school that has applyed to only one college, MIT. This was the school her mother went to, who is now dead. She feels she is perfect for this college.
This book is alot different from Speak, the author's other book that I enjoyed. I don't think this book would be good for younger kids, because of the launguage and the fact that this is an 18 year old's life.
Quick read compared to others I have read, interesting, and always has a great point of view. This book has suprises you would never expect. It deserves a five star rating.

Rating:
Summary: Satisying, though fell short of my expectations
Review: Kate Malone, chemistry geek, reverend's daughter, and one of the top students in the senior class, is nearing the end of her high school career at Merryweather High. The only thing she wishes for is to receive the acceptance letter from MIT, the college her dead mother attended and the only college she applied to. When the letter, a rejection, arrives, her life is turned upside down and Kate is faced with one conflict after another.

Though I found "Catalyst" to be a satisfying read, I would have expected better from this author, writer of the remarkable "Speak", one of my favorite books. "Catalyst" was simply not as gripping as I found "Speak" to be, and, at times, seemed as though it served as an advertisement for "Speak". However, this book was still extraordinaly written, and used the same suspenseful and humorous tone only Laurie Halse Anderson possesses.

Rating:
Summary: A book about REAL teenagers? Couldn't be.
Review: As a sixteen-year-old, I can appreciate Laurie Halse Anderson's writing for its honest and unabashed portrayal of adolescence. In Catalyst and Speak, Anderson recognizes the fact that high school is not necessarily the "best years of our lives" filled with fun, friendships, and happy endings. In fact, Catalyst, while not overdramatic, focuses on many of the unhappy events in the protagonist's life, many of which will impact her future as well. And the book's ending, while relatively satisfying yet abrupt, is not at all reminiscent of the conclusion found in most young adult books.

The main character Kate is like many high school "geeks" - she has a good GPA, takes advanced classes, and is on the school track team. She has a boyfriend and a close group of friends, but her life is thrown into tumult when one of her "enemies" moves into her house after a fire. The book focuses on Kate's grappling with the fact that she is not accepted into the one college to which she applied, MIT. Anderson's genius lies, however, not in plot but in character development. Avoiding stereotypes and overdramatization of relationships serves the book well and lays a foundation to which all types of readers can identify.

If you are looking for an easy read that is not wrought with petty boyfriend-girlfriend relationships and high school dramas largely focused on prom and getting your first kiss, I would recommend this book to you. It held my attention the entire time I was reading it.

And for those of you who are fans of Speak, this book contains cameos by a few of the characters.

Rating:
Summary: Another Excellent Book From Laurie Halse Anderson
Review: Meet Kate Malone - Straight A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, girlfriend (to Mitchell "Early Decision Harvard" Pangborn III), unwilling family caretaker, emotional avodiance champion. This is a darkly humorous story, similar to Laurie Halse Anderson's book "Speak", and it puts in details about Kate Malone's, the main character of the story, emotions about being rejected to the only 4-year college she applied for, MIT. It also puts in depth the feelings and struggles that Kate goes through when Teri Litch and her family moves into her house. This is an entertaining book that you just can't put down, but it can't quite compare to "Speak", Ms. Anderson's last book. "Catalyst" is a book that is good enough to be rated 4 stars for the entertainment value, but I noticed that the details going on inside of the main character's head faded out slightly torward the middle of the book. Besides that, this book is a must-read for teens 13 and older.

Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: I really enjoyed Catalyst, and I don't think it's fair to compare the book to Speak--they are two completely different titles. With Catalyst, like Speak, I was moved to tears a few times, and I think this book is definitely worth reading. Anybody who's ever worried about college will identify with Kate, as will anybody who's ever had a weird family. Keep up the good work, Ms. Anderson!

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL book
Review: Yet again Laurie Halse Anderson writes ANOTHER great book! Like the book Speak (my favorite book of all time) its about a teenage girl and her struggles in life! This is a REALLY good book and i think everyone should read it! Although its sad at times its a wonderful book! PLEASE read it

Rating:
Summary: Richie's Picks: CATALYST
Review: ... ...

But, getting back to Laurie Halse Anderson and to Merryweather High, the setting for SPEAK, and now for CATALYST... What? Yes, indeed, Laurie returns us to the land of the infamous Mr. Neck, and Hairwoman, and Andy the Beast--none of whom we get to see here. The story is set at the end of the school year following SPEAK, and Melinda, in another of Mr. Free-man's classes, does actually make a cameo appearance. So, knowing all of this ahead of time, you are possibly going to open this book and look for it to grab you by the throat and mystify you the way you were immediately mystified by Melinda Sorrentino's treatment on the bus and in the auditorium on her first day at the school.

Right?

Well, get over it! This is a whole different chemical equation:

Kate Malone, minister's daughter, star student, and runner, is a senior who lives for her acceptance letter to MIT--the only college she has bothered to apply to.

"Insomnia rocks, actually. You can get a lot done if you don't sleep. I've turned into a hyper-efficient windup Kate doll, super Kate, the über-Kate. I wish this had happened last year. It would have given me more time to study for my AP exams."

She introduces us to her family:

"Toby and I are the proton and neutron of our atomic family unit. Dad is the loosely bonded electron, negatively charged, zooming around us in his own little shell."

She introduces us to her group of friends:

"Sara slides her sunglasses across the table. I take off my glasses and put them on. The room mellows to a golden, SFP-protected glow...They are all out of focus now, but...I'd recognize these shapes anywhere. Sara Emery, my BF, is a self-described Wiccan Jewish poet. This would send most parents screaming to the therapist's office, but the Emerys are totally cool with it. I've been asking them to adopt me for years.
Travis Baird is to Sara as water is to fire: opposite and necessary. Trav is a freakazoid good guy with a taste for body art. The vice principal in charge of discipline has been aching to bust him for four years. He refuses to believe that good things can come in colorful packages.
A warm hand snakes around my waist. My knees buckle and the hand pulls me down into the very familiar lap of Mitchell A. Pangborn III--my friend, my enemy, my lust."

She introduces us to the story's outcast, a tough female named Teri Litch:

"The ugly girl, the one who smells funny, studies carpentry at vo-tech, stomps around with sawdust in her hair, and has fists like sledgehammers. Teri beat me up every year in elementary school, fall and spring. I turned the other cheek for a while, then I learned to run. Intelligent life pursues self-preservation."

And she introduces us to her "sad excuse of a motor vehicle, a Yugo named Burt."

But who or what is the catalyst here is one of the things you're going to have to read the book to find out.

...

CATALYST, which alternately had me crying and laughing, is a moving story that seeks to knock us off our little career tracks long enough to see what's really important. Laurie Halse Anderson has once again crafted an unforgettable young adult novel filled with literary brilliance. This CATALYST sure got one [heck] reaction out of me! ...

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, but not another "Speak"....I'd say 3.5 stars
Review: I loved "Speak" (if you haven't read it, get it now!) because it was so funny and dark and made me feel like Melinda was right there talking to me and me only. It had this intimacy that just makes a book so powerful. "Catalyst" lacks this intimacy, partially because it includes much more dialogue. Which is OK. Just don't expect quite the same style. I found the scientific term symbolism a bit sledgehammered, but maybe that's only because I'm taking chem now and I'm sick of it.
The book moves so fast, I just kept wanting it to stop for a minute. I kind of like this. It made me feel like I was running to catch up with Kate. I predict this book won't be as big as Speak. For one thing, it has less sex and it's not as funny, important factors for most my age. I loved the ending, which is a big vague. I like vague endings; a lot of people don't.
Catalyst is a powerful work, but it just wasn't as strong as Speak. It's still awesome, however.

Rating:
Summary: Anderson Rocks the World Again
Review: First, there was Speak, a life-changeing, thought-process-altering insightful novel about a believable character.

Then there was Fever, another life-changing, incredible novel.

Now Catalyst. (...). This book will rock the foundation of what you think is life and what you take for granted, if you let it. It is an emotional cleaner that will have you shouting "No no no no no no no" at Ms. Anderson and wondering if you can even finish the book. Take a long lunch, because you will not be able to put it down.

I can recommend this to the geeks of the world, especially, the ones like me who got accepted to most of the colleges they applied for and graduted magna cum laude--or those people who want to understand us.

Rating:
Summary: As Great As Speak
Review: I didn't think it was possible, but this book is just as great as one of my favorite books of all time (the book in the same series as this one), Speak. I recommend everyone who has read Speak to read this book.